Kevin Abourezk
ICT

The leader of the Native nonprofit NDN Collective said his organization opposes the new South Dakota governor’s invitation earlier this week to President Donald Trump to visit Mount Rushmore for a July 4 fireworks celebration.

“We are ready to throw the biggest birthday party ever for America’s 250th birthday. And there is no better place to do it than Mount Rushmore,” Gov. Larry Rhoden said on his Facebook page. “I invited President Donald J. Trump to join us for Mount Rushmore Fireworks. We cannot wait to see him there.”

Credit: Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks with a constituent at the state Capitol on Jan. 13, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

It wouldn’t be Trump’s first visit to Mount Rushmore. On July 3, 2020, more than 100 treaty defenders blocked a road leading to the national monument on the same day that Trump attended an Independence Day celebration there. ICT refers to the 2020 protesters as “treaty defenders” because of NDN Collective’s stated aim of defending the Black Hills, a region promised to the Lakota by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.

“It looks like the Lakotas and our allies will once again be making a stand against the colonial U.S government and Trump,” NDN Collective CEO Nick Tilsen said in a statement to ICT. “We’ve been resisting for hundreds of years – expect that resistance to continue.”

Should Trump return to Mount Rushmore in the future, he may be there to celebrate his own face being carved into the mountain. On Jan. 27, Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida introduced a bill seeking to add Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore, which currently features the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

“This bill aims to honor President Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, for his transformative impact on America and the historical significance of his leadership,” Luna stated. “Mount Rushmore, a timeless symbol of our nation’s freedom and strength, deserves to reflect his towering legacy – a legacy further solidified by the powerful start to his second term.”

Credit: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to employees at the Department of Homeland Security, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Rhoden took office in January, replacing Kristi Noem, who left the position after being nominated by Trump to be Secretary of Homeland Security, a position she secured after the Senate confirmed her nomination on Jan. 25. Noem had a troubled history with tribes in her state. Comments she made regarding alleged drug cartel activity on tribal lands led all nine tribes in South Dakota to ban her from their reservations in 2024.

Several tribes in South Dakota have begun reaching out to Rhoden, hoping to establish positive relations with him and his administration. On Jan. 24, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Council passed a resolution ending its ban on Noem and seeking improved relations with her, as well as Rhoden. In its resolution, the tribal council said Noem had promised to “promote tribal law enforcement training in South Dakota” in her new role as Homeland Security chief.

And on Wednesday, Feb. 5, Oglala Sioux Tribe Chairman Frank Star Comes Out met with Rhoden at the South Dakota State Capitol, though they didn’t discuss Rhoden’s decision to invite Trump to Mount Rushmore.

“We met with him to see about resetting,” said Valerie Adams, public relations advisor for the tribe.

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Kevin Abourezk is a longtime, award-winning Sicangu Lakota journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications. He is also the deputy managing editor for ICT. Kevin can be reached at kevin@ictnews.org.